This invention relates to systems and methods of distributing products from suppliers to consumers.
Suppliers (e.g., manufacturers, distributors, and venders) have one or more channels by which to distribute products (i.e., goods and services) to consumers. A supplier's distribution channel often will include one or more retailers, each of which typically specializes in selling a particular class of products to consumers. For example, some retailers specialize in selling only high end, high margin products, whereas other retailers specialize in selling low end (or medium end) products. Some suppliers distribute some or all of their products to consumers directly, without involving retailers.
Recently, there has been a trend toward distributing products to consumers over a computer network (e.g., the Internet). For example, some retailers and some suppliers have developed systems for displaying products to consumers and receiving consumer purchase requests over the Internet. Systems designed to coordinate the sales of products offered by a plurality of retailers to create a “virtual mall” have been proposed. On-line sales of products enable such products to be sold at lower prices as a result of the inherent efficiencies provided by on-line sales systems.
When a particular retailer elects to offer its products on-line, the existing distribution system of a supplier of that retailer may be disrupted. Typically only large volume low end (and possibly medium end) retailers have the resources and the consumer recognition to successfully offer products on-line; high end specialty retailers generally cannot launch a successful on-line sales program. Thus, in order for suppliers to sell their high end (and possibly medium end) products on-line, manufacturers have two conventional choices: the suppliers must distribute these products on-line themselves, or the suppliers must provide these products to the low end (and possibly medium end) retailers that have successfully launched on-line sales programs. Either of these approaches, however, is likely to significantly reduce the sales volumes of the high end retailers. Under these circumstances, such suppliers may lose one or more of its high end, “brick and mortar” distribution channels because high end retailers may elect to not carry the high end products of suppliers whose local sales they do not exclusively control.